I challenged Modi on his ‘lies’ but he has remained silent: Siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah challenges Modi's allegations, vows to stay in politics, and promises stable government in Karnataka.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka had mobilised ₹700 crore from the Excise Department to fund the Assembly election for the party in Maharashtra, had failed to face the challenge thrown by him to prove the charge.

“I had challenged Mr. Modi that I would retire from politics if he proved the allegation. I also asked him if he would resign if he failed to prove the claim. There was no answer from him,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said at a public meeting organised at Sandur by the Ballari District Congress Committee to thank voters of the Assembly constituency for electing Congress candidate E. Annapurna in the recently held byelection.

“BJP leaders, right from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the top to the local leaders in Karnataka at the bottom, tried to spread lies in their propaganda,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Countering the BJP’s claim that the guarantee schemes would shortly stop, Mr. Siddaramaiah repeatedly assured the people that all the five guarantees would continue.

On the stability of the government, he said, he said the BJP never gave a stable government in the State. “In 2008, they came to power and could not give a stable government. Their government saw three Chief Ministers. When they came to power in 2019, they could not have a stable government as their government saw two Chief Ministers. When we [Congress] came to power in 2013, we gave a stable government by winning 121 seats. In 2023, we won 136 seats to give a stable government. They [the Opposition] are waiting for our government to fall. B.Y. Vijayendra , H.D. Kumaraswamy, and R. Ashok are waiting to become Chief Minister. I tell you, you cannot become Chief Minister as the Congress government will complete its five-year term. You cannot shake me. You cannot tarnish my image,” he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah referred to former Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde’s report on illegal mining in Ballari which described how the Reddy brothers [BJP leader Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brothers] turned the district into a “Ballari Republic” and thanked the Sandur voters for defeating the BJP in the byelection to prevent the Reddy brothers from turning Sandur into their “republic”.